Canon 30D, 17-40 F4L, 70-200 F2.8L, 580EX II
 

Well, need some suggestions. Wise move? Wrong moment?

Let's consider I don't want to spend 1D money at the moment and still prefer to buy a new camera rather than second hand. Also, not interested in full frame 5D.

I know the 30D isn't the latest model, but rather than having a 400D, I'd get the 30...

The reason I am considering this is because I am starting to think my 350 isn't working as good as it did in the past.

I only use L lenses now, and I think I know how to take pics, and yet, focusing is often really wrong, so is sharpness and so on. my guess is that it got damaged somewhere in the accident I had in december and that it is showing now that the winter is going and I am taking more pics.
possible that something got damaged inside preventing me to obtain good quality from my shots? if you think the Milano-Sanremo shots were ok, well, yes, some of them were, but you should have seen all the crappy ones I took home..

I should maybe do some more testing, but today I stopped to take some quick pics of 5 430 Challenge side by side (red, red, yellow, white, gunmetal, no stickers on them) and well, 10 pics, 9 blurry ones and only barely ok...

maybe I am just paranoid and I should concentrate more on my pictures taking, but considering how bad the accident was, I could understand if something isn't working anymore in the 350D...

Anyway, the basic question is: is it worth to spend 30D money atm? It's not like there are that many options in the new Canon cameras range anyway...

Your picture taking ability is above reproach so issues you are facing must be due to the camera. I assume you clean your lenses and mirror inside the camera on occasion. If so, something must have gone out alignment in the camera. It might be expensive to fix anyway. So I would say trade in the Rebel for the 30D. I am sure with your bigger L lenses, the 30D will be a lot more comfortable in your hands.


I am contemplating upgrading to the D200 in a few months myself for the following reasons:
- bigger body makes it easier to hold with my 70-200 3lb heavy lens
- faster autofocus
- 4 extra MPs - little better cropping possible
- More buttons on the body rather than scrolling thru menus
- Depth of field preview (you can stop down the image in the viewfinder to selected aperture and check out the quality of the bokeh)

The D2X is way beyond my budget.

The D200 is about $1300 now for the body. If I can find a used one or something for a couple $$$ less I might spring for it. I might be keeping my D50 to use with the 18-70 lens and the D200 for the 70-200 lens. That way I can take both cameras to a race or something and quickly switch between cameras rather than go thru process of de-attaching and re-attaching lenses. :)

The 30D is a good upgrade from the 350D. Not only does it have more functions but it's also built better and is easier to use with the quick control dials etc..

Buy, buy, buy :)

Haha you guys are like me LOL :D

What bothers me is that some pics taken these days are top notch, others are utter crap!

Let me see if I can find the pics form this morning and post some 100% crops

Well, this one was sort of ok.. ISO400, rushed, but once resized the final pic, although a bit overexposed, was ok
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...3_2007-003.jpg

And this was the average pic
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...3_2007-005.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...5_filtered.jpg

I'm assuming those last two images are 100% crops ?

They are. If this would be the result after some editing, it would really be damn bad :D

Were these taken with a tripod or handheld? There is some blur and the color looks a little oversaturated

Handheld, 1/160 F4.5, of course IS on.

Sadly I am not used to keep my originals as you know, but usually with such relatively quick speed the originals are perfectly sharp.

I don't know, all of a sudden the pics seem just "soft", rarely really sharp, even at 1/250 and faster, and even if I have shaky hands, I never had problems above 1/100...

As for the color, contrast and general light in the shots, yes, I fucked up the manual settings and they are a bit burned ;)

Also, something weird: when in aperture priority, in the past the camera was able to perfectly judge the speed. now I always shoot in manual but in Monza out of curiosity I tried aperture mode again, and I was surprised the camera was always underexposing EVERY shot and by quite some margin, just picking high speeds as it never did before...
And in the past I was using that mode a lot and never noticed it.

Maybe I just want a 30D and trying to convince myself this 350D is crap :D

Just wondering how many pictures have you taken w/ the 350D? Maybe it is starting towards the end of its life already?

Yeah, I would definitely get a 30D over a 400D. That's the only camera that will make me jump ship from Nikon.

Speaking of which, I changed cameras myself. Unlike you ballers, I ended up downgrading back to the D50. So D50 to D70, and now back to the D50. I really do like the smaller size of the D50 more. And picture quality wise, I found myself liking the images from the D50 more than the D70. :)

Question is .... how much will you sell your camera for cause i might be intrested.

Difficult to guess how many pics I took with the 350. Somewhere between 10'000 and 20'000 I think. Not that many for such a camera.

And Pokiou, I am aiming at getting 500 CHF, which is around 520 AUD. trouble is, shipping to Australia would be kinda expensive; if the camera really has a prob, I don't want to see it to somebody I sort of know ;) and finally, if I'll do this upgrade, it has to be done quickly, this WE.

I've seen some stunning photography with a 350D, so I can't see a real need to upgrade just yet.....we always want something bigger/better but need to resist sometimes. :D

I would just get your camera checked out, wouldn't that be cheaper? If its a big problem then yes go ahead and get a 30D.

well let me know TT ... im looking for a slr camera to begin with.

Pokiou, buy a 2nd hand one locally for around $650-700 - will work out about the same cost and ALOT easier.